Amazon-Virginia Tech Initiative showcases innovative approaches to robust and efficient machine learning

(From left) Reza Ghanadan, senior principal scientist, Amazon Alexa and the new Amazon center liaison for the Amazon-Virginia Tech initiative; Shehzad Mevawalla, vice president of Alexa Speech Recognition, Amazon Alexa; Virginia Tech President Tim Sands; Lance Collins, vice president and executive director, Innovation Campus; Julie Ross, the Paul and Dorothea Torgerson Dean of Engineering; Naren Ramakrishnan, the Thomas L. Phillips Professor of Engineering and director of the Amazon-Virginia Tech initiative; and Wanawsha Shalaby, program manager for the Amazon-Virginia Tech initiative. Photo by Lee Friesland for Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech and Amazon gathered for a Machine Learning Day held at the Virginia Tech Research Center — Arlington on April 25 to celebrate and further solidify their collaborative Amazon–Virginia Tech Initiative for Efficient and Robust Machine Learning.  

Announced last year, the initiative — funded by Amazon, housed in the College of Engineering, and directed by researchers at the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics on Virginia Tech’s campus in Blacksburg and at the Innovation Campus in Alexandria — supports student- and faculty-led development and implementation of innovative approaches to robust machine learning, such as ensuring that algorithms and models are resistant to errors and adversaries, that could address worldwide industry-focused problems. Read full story here.